Related

Given the subject nature of the section you are reading today — which includes much ado about poo, among other fascinating reads — it seems only fitting to talk about snakeheads.

And bears. And raccoons. And skunks. And coyotes. And deer. And squirrels. And cougars. And all those other wild creatures with whom we are increasingly sharing our urban landscape as we continue to encroach on their territory in the name of progress and densification.

You’ve heard the stories, or perhaps have some of your own. The ravine coyote that indiscriminately picks off neighbourhood cats as if noshing at a buffet. The bears ripping apart trash cans on the North Shore. The brazen raccoons that gambol day and night in backyards all over Metro Vancouver, helping themselves to the koi and any pet food that has been foolishly left accessible.

This week a new menace was added to the roster of wild things in our populous midst, this one spotted in a pond in Burnaby’s Central Park: a snakehead, which is a hefty freshwater non-indigenous fish that is butt ugly and has the lung capacity to survive out of water for several days, allowing it to “walk” on land, thus portaging its voracious strip-mining appetite from one body of water to another. Sold in local markets, the Asian predator is reviled for decimating domestic fisheries and consuming the occasional Chihuahua.

If all this wildlife stalking our streets seems never-ending, it is, especially as spring turns to summer.

Thankfully, Nicholas Read is here to help. And to explain why.

His new book, City Critters: Wildlife in the Urban Jungle (Orca Books, $19.95), is not just an encyclopedia of our furry and feathered friends, it’s a reminder that we humans need to be more hospitable in a situation we’ve created.

We’re the ones, after all, who continue to expand our cities, destroying wetlands and levelling forests faster than the creatures who live there can find new accommodation.

We’re the ones who leave out garbage, or feed wild animals our human food and then wonder why that slobbering black bear is banging on the kitchen screen door.

We’re the ones who buy exotic creatures like pythons and caymans and, yes, snakeheads, and then release them in parks and lakes when they are too big, or are no longer the object of our arrogant affections.

City Critters is an entertaining, and disturbing, walk through the new urban jungle where the wild things are.

There are chapters devoted to mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and insects, and dozens of photographs and factoids about moose, cougars, bears and assorted untamed animals doing their best to adapt to the city life that we have foisted upon them.

Did you know, for instance, that there are close to 30 duck species native to North America and many of them have handily habituated to a life of concrete, including canvasbacks, ring-necked ducks and northern pintails? Or that coyotes are so common in big metropolises that one was recently spotted trotting around Manhattan?

Cities clearly aren’t just for people any more, and Read strongly suggests we better get used to our new dorm mates, because with nowhere else to go, they are settling in.

The book’s final chapter, What We Can Do For Them, is a lesson in the art of peaceful coexistence, and an appeal for more understanding about how many of those newly urbanized wild animals are struggling to acclimatize to a highrise world, often with fatal consequences.

City Critters is Read’s fifth animal-related book — two others were about the Great Bear Rainforest — and during his 25-year career as a Vancouver Sun reporter, he regularly wrote about animal rights, even convincing one sympathetic editor to agree to send him to Sable Island off the coast of Nova Scotia for a story on the feral ponies that famously roam freely on the isolated sandbar. He didn’t get to Sable (most visitors’ requests are denied), but once wrote a Sun story that was picked up by media all over the world — from Australia to Russia — about a Vancouver police officer who rescued eight ducklings from a grated storm sewer after being led to the spot by the distraught mother duck.

Nor is it surprising that Read, a longtime vegetarian who today teaches journalism at Langara College, is donating his book royalties to various animal charities.

In less than a week, Abbotsford recording artists Hedley went from touring Canada with two supporting acts and a popular new album to pariahs ensnared in allegations of sexual misconduct. On Monday, accusations that band members Jacob Hoggard, Dave Rosin, Tommy Mac and Jay Benison had engaged in sexual behaviour with teenage girls surfaced on Twitter […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.